Another Dawn
by Mind's Eye View
Summary: I've had it. I'm sick of all their stupid "true love" talk and their constant criticism. I never fit in, and it's stupid that I'm only just realizing it. I've got to get away., move someplace where they'll never find me. Maybe Mexico or Tibet. Or Italy.
1. Defected and Rejected

**A/N** I'd just like to thank Aradia Lestat-Ming Ue for her amazing _Twilight_ fic, Healing Broken Hearts, which turned me on to my _Twilight _OTP (though I, myself, am an anti). I recommend it to anyone, fans and antis alike—in fact, I recommend all of her stories. The _Twilight_ characters have actual depth and personality in her fics and are actually interesting enough to keep one's attention. Plus, Vanessa is totally kick-ass.

They were tracking me. Their paws were muffled against the thick covering of mulch and moss, but I could still hear them: the steady panting, the excited yips, the occasional bay when my scent grew stronger. I didn't understand why they were pursuing me so earnestly. Despite my status as Beta, I was still criticized, still accused of being a vindictive ex-girlfriend and just an overall bitch.

I peered down at them from my seat on a tree branch high above the forest floor. They were circling the small clearing, their confused snuffling reaching my ears all the way from the far-side of it. After a few more minutes' searching, a silver wolf—Paul, that egotistical asshole—picked up my fake trail and let out a clipped howl, which sent the rest of the pack off and running back to La Push. I grinned despite myself, feeling incredibly smug that I had bought at least a half-hour of rest before they discovered it was a false lead. Sighing, I leaned against the trunk of the tree and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the rough bark as it bit into my bare skin.

A quiet whine brought me back before I could even properly doze, and I stared lazily at a gangly, sand-colored wolf standing beneath my tree.

"Go away, Seth." I growled at him before closing my eyes again and trying to nap. But he whined again, this time louder and more insistent. I snapped my eyes open and locked on him, my mouth twisting into a snarl.

"I mean it. Get out of here before they realize you're missing."

"Too late."

I swore under my breath and turned my gaze to my steadily-approaching Alpha. He moved confidently, though he was completely naked—as was I—but he didn't do anything for me. Maybe because I had been changing his diapers since before I was even properly out of my own.

"Why were you hiding, Leah?" he asked casually, leaning against the base of the pine and watching Seth shoot off across the clearing to alert the rest of the pack.

"Maybe because I didn't want to be found." I snapped and glared up at the perpetually gloomy sky. I wondered vaguely what it would be like to live some place sunny, a place where you felt warm, no matter how high the AC was cranked.

"Not this again." I could practically hear his eyes roll. But I did hear him reposition himself, his skin scraping against the tree as he prepared himself for a long, foul-mouthed tirade, courtesy of yours truly. I had done it enough in the past few weeks for it to have become routine, but for some reason, the fact that he expected me to start ranting pissed me off more than the problem itself.

Well, I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them, still staring up at the sky. I concentrated on willing the clouds to move, just a little. Even the tiniest change might allow a shaft of sunlight to pierce the dreary scenery of Forks, Washington. Jacob moved again, and I could smell the annoyance and anxiety coming off him the longer I stayed silent. Served the self-righteous prick right.

"Come on down, Leah. I'm getting tired of your little tantrums. Nessie's only five, and she doesn't even throw as many fits." he sounded so proud of his little jail-bait fiance that it made my stomach churn.

"Piss off."

"Be reasonable, Lee Lee. Jake's only trying to help." My eyes narrowed as a recently returned Seth begged to me.

I didn't bother glaring or screaming at him for using that nickname, because that would only further prove my reputation as a bitter ex-girlfriend. They all denied what they really thought of me, of course; but it was hard to lie when anyone of us could call up another's darkest secrets at a whim. They all hated me. Even Seth was starting to get tired of me.

Without a word, I dropped down from the tree, bending my knees to absorb what little recoil there was. I guess being able to fall nearly three stories and walk away with an extra spring in your step was a minor perk for becoming _this_. The pack had returned, all of them back in their day-to-day shapes (we could hardly be counted as _human_ anymore) and placed in a loose semi-circle around me. I kept my eyes on the ground, straightening slowly as I assessed their positions.

_The easiest break would be between Jared and Brady. Jared's too busy bullshitting with Quil,and Brady's still a bit green around the edges. The first chance I get, I'll change and blow right past the two of them and be halfway across the meadow by the time anyone realizes what's going on. As if those bastards would come after me anyway--_

"Leah?"

Any further thoughts were sufficiently dissipated when I heard that voice.

_His_ voice.

I grimaced and looked up, catching Sam's eye from where he stood a few yards in front of me. "What were you doing in that tree, Leah?" His tone was politely concerned, as if asking it had only been an afterthought to show good will. I knew if it had been my "perfect" cousin Emily up in that tree, he'd be all over her, checking for the smallest scrape and kissing her until his lips chapped. Thinking about it made me want to puke.

I backed away from him, trying to look cocky and confident while, inwardly, I was quaking. His appearance, his smell, his voice, even just a passing mention of him brought back memories. Some sad, some happy, and all of them painful. No matter how long I tried to convince myself otherwise, I was still in love with Sam Uley.

"Leah, just listen to me. The wedding's only a few days away. It would mean the world to Em if you could be there--"

"Really? She wants me there that badly?" I interrupted, a mocking smile taking place instead of the twisted snarl just begging to be let out. Sam blinked rapidly, caught off-guard by my tone but mistaking my smile as something benign.

"Well, yeah. You're her cousin. Of course she wants you there."

"What about you, Sam? What am I to you?" I asked, unable to keep the bitterness from creeping into my tone. "Why do you want me at your wedding?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he hesitated as he tried to think up an answer.

"You... You're my pack-mate. And my boss when Big Jake's not around," he flashed a grin at the young Alpha, who returned it with a cheeky smirk of his own. Ever since the La Push pack had merged with Jake's, to follow their rightful leader, the two had been buddy-buddy. "You've always been there for me. You're like... like an older sister to me, Lee Lee." His grin had softened, as if he thought he had said the right thing.

I, however, was having none of his bullshit. It took all my strength not to phase right then and there and tear his fucking head off. And the worst part was, I was completely capable of doing it; in addition to being the fastest runner, I was also the fastest phaser. He'd be dead and I'd be out of here before his body even hit the ground.

"'Like a sister'? Is that all I am to you? That I ever _was_ to you? Does imprinting fuck your mind over so badly that you don't even remember the _six years_ we were together? When we talked about the future? _Our_ future careers. _Our_ college plans. _Our_ apartment we were going to rent." My voice quieted of it's own accord, and no matter how hard I fought them back, a few tears managed to escape and left red-hot trails down my cheeks. "_Our_ wedding. _Our_ children. Did you repress all that, to keep yourself from feeling guilty? Or did that bitch make you forget?"

A tremor ran through the pack, and before any of them could so much as twitch, Sam and I were our alter-fursona's, and he had me pinned against the dewy meadow grass.

_Take that back!_ The command roared inside my head, accompanied by a menacing growl from his salivating mouth. Had I still belonged to his pack, I would have had no choice but to obey. But I wasn't his anymore.

_No._ I stared calmly up at the snapping black jaws literally centimeters from my own muzzle. Sam's angry snarls filled my ears, but my heightened hearing still picked up the subtle fizzing noise as the pack finally caught on and changed before the situation could escalate.

The weight of their combined anger fell down on me, doing a better job of subduing me than any physical means. They could feel Sam's outrage—as could I—and imagined what they would have done if I had insulted their _imprintees_.

I wasn't at all surprised that Jared, Paul, and Quil would have ripped me to shreds if I had said that about Kim, Rachel, or Claire. Embry and Brady, both of whom had yet to imprint, were only mildly angry with me, simply because they knew how much Emily meant to Sam, and how much their female fuck-buddies would mean to them when they found them. Collin was still confused over the entire "the other half of your soul" shit; since his girl was his fifty seven year old Health teacher, I guess that was understandable. But Seth... Seth's reaction hit me the hardest. He had imprinted just this summer on, honestly, the sweetest girl in the whole damn country. Molly had visited Forks for treatment at the vampire doctor's clinic (apparently he was one of the best in the state—who would've guessed?) for her Cerebral Palsy, and the two had all but fallen for each other on-sight. He was absolutely livid, his thoughts mingling with those of Jared, Paul, and Quil.

And Jake just stared at me, his dark brown eyes leering down at my spit-matted face with disgust.

_You went too far, Leah. Apologize to Sam and quit being such a harpy._

There it was again. His favorite word for me. For some reason, it always stung more than any other slur.

_Fuck you._ I began to snarl and wiggled out from underneath Sam. He barked and made to tackle me, but a quick yip from the Alpha stopped him in his tracks. Jake approached the large black wolf, making Sam get down on his back and whine helplessly when the man had shown signs of trying to disobey. I stood there, gazing smugly at him as he was cowed and humiliated.

_Apologize. That's an order._ Jake said tiredly without looking away from Sam.

I sniffed loudly out of indignation, wishing I had human lips so I'd be able to frown. I didn't like being told what to do, pack status aside. I was always harped on whenever I set even a hair out of line. The rest of the pack shared their disgusting wet dreams with each-other, but the moment I wonder about who my Mr. Right could be, or who my Mr. Right _had_ been, I get cussed out and mocked. None of them cared. They all had their other halves, their "soul mate", and didn't understand what it was like to have that taken away. They didn't care why I was bitter or why I was a bitch all the time. They only knew that I was, never bothering to hear my side or try and help. I was the odd one out.

And I didn't belong.

_No._

A dozen pairs of eyes turned away from Jake and Sam to look at me. Even the two Alpha males (one current and the other previous) appeared shocked at my outright denial. A confused growl rippled through the pack, with a few telepathic hollers; the kind that grade-schoolers yell before the nerd gets beaten up by the class bully.

_Say you're sorry. Now._ Jake said in his Alpha Voice, a tone he hadn't used on me since I had defected to his at-the-time lone wolf pack. I shook myself, spraying bits of soggy mulch and grimy water into the air. Though it still had that authoritative sense that made my whole body shudder, it had been muffled. As if he had said it while underwater.

And now that I concentrated, I could no longer hear the others in my head. Faint inklings, mostly insults and threats, but nothing more than the emotion behind those words. It confused me, for a moment, but I enjoyed the semi-silence.

_Lee... Leah..._ Jake struggled over the overwhelming silence to try and reach me. I flicked an ear at him, a doggy-grin splitting my face when he realized he couldn't hear me. Sam and Seth were the only others who found that they, too, couldn't hear my "constant nagging" either. The rest were no doubt too preoccupied by what their brethren were thinking to notice there was one less consciousness that added to the cacophony.

_I'm leaving, Jake. Appoint whoever you want as my replacement. I'm not part of the La Push pack anymore._ I couldn't be sure he heard me, as I had to practically scream it in my head, but I knew he could tell from my body language the gist of what I had said. The pack of wolves—who had at one time seemed as familiar as my own reflection—were now alien to me, watching me with dead eyes as I trotted to the edge of the clearing and disappeared into the foliage.

A long, mournful howl followed me into the depths of the forest, but I didn't turn back. I had chosen my path the moment I realized I didn't belong with them. That I could never belong with them. And that I had nothing left to tie me down to this gloomy little place. Seth would miss me, but he'd grow so preoccupied with Molly that I'd soon become just a figment. Mom would miss me too. But she had already moved off the Reservation and in with her new husband in Forks, so she, too, would heal in a short while.

I still couldn't believe I was related to that stupid leech-fucker. Even though I had only been his step-daughter for two years now, I thought Charlie deserved better than that brainless blood-sucker. Maybe I could move in with them for a little while. Until I found someplace cheap to go. Someplace with a lot of sun.

But, no. That was the first place they'd check. Despite my own confidence in my decision to leave, I had no doubt that Jake and the rest of them thought it was just my time of the month (though I no longer had one, thanks to magical werewolf mumbo-jumbo), and that I'd come crawling back with my tail between my legs, begging to be forgiven. So I'd have to lay low for a while, someplace where they wouldn't even think of looking for me.

I stopped just before the forest ended and the little town of Forks began. My nose twitched, assaulted by the smells that floated up from the various houses and businesses. Food. Dirty laundry. Sweat. Filth. Booze. The usual scents.

The wind shifted and a stronger, more pungent smell invaded my nostrils. I sneezed involuntarily and whacked my snout with my paw, trying to get that disgusting scent out. Sickly sweet, like moldy sugar, old chocolate, and factory-processed candy melted together and allowed to ferment in ammonia and anti-freeze for a good six-months. If I had eaten anything earlier, I would have been staring at the contents of my stomach by now.

But it was the last place they'd look for me. In fact, it wouldn't even be on the list. I hated the leeches, but their own musk would mask mine better than anything. Hiding out in their territory was my best option. But the idea was so crazy that even I was already having second-thoughts about it. But instead of turning back, I just let my tongue loll out as I set off at a lope, utilizing my speed to get me there as quickly as possible. The smell grew stronger as I skirted around one of the many winding roads and cut through a dense patch of forest as a short-cut.

The obscenely white mansion sat atop an equally obscenely manicured hill. I knew the Doctor and his mate were still living there. Only a few more months before they had to leave, lest they arouse even more suspicion. Bella—I refused to call her anything with 'sister' or 'my' in it—and her mate were somewhere in Australia, probably having their own self-generated disco in the middle of the desert. The small one that felt the need to dance everywhere and her emotionless void of a husband were probably here as well.

But I didn't care about any of them. Sticking up my nose, I trotted upstream of the river that ran beside the house, going on for about a half an hour before I reached a modest-sized yet extravagant custom home with a garage the size of a gym. I laughed, the sound coming out as some sort of warbled growl, before springing into a dead run and bolting to one of the many open garage doors that could fit a semi with room to spare.

Movement flashed in the corner of my eye, and I skidded to a halt to keep from running into the vampire that appeared before me. She bared her teeth, hissing as she flashed into a low crouch. Her blonde hair that hung down to her waist created a golden halo around her head as that stray shaft of sunlight I had wished for earlier pierced the clouds, making her skin glow faintly. My hackles raised and I braced my legs apart, snarling and snapping at the creature with spittle dripping from my mouth.

"Dog," she spat, her lyrical voice carrying all the bite of a cobra.

_Faerie,_ I growled deep in my throat, letting the feral sound build up and rumble like thunder since she wasn't able to hear my thoughts like her abusive stalker brother. We stared each other down, all growls and snapping and snarls.

Then I relaxed and sat back on my haunches, my fur smooth and tail wagging slightly as I stared her in the eye. She too relaxed, returning to the favored standing position, her eyes crinkling in amusement as she showed her almost blindingly white teeth to me in the form of a smile.

She reached out to scratch my head with her perfectly manicured nails. I barked softly and let myself give in to the wolf instincts and enjoy the sensation. She laughed softly, the sound oddly delicate for one that possessed so much power.

"Leah Clearwater." she greeted me, her natural enemy, with unabashed warmth and a large, friendly smile. I returned it with my own Chesire-grin, wolf-style, and yipped energetically, my own version of a greeting for my mortal enemy of a best friend.

_Rosalie Hale._

**A/N** Well, that was my first attempt at a _Twilight_ fic. It's going to be multi-chaptered, so hopefully I can get a better feel for the characters as the story develops. Also, if you were offended at all, whether it's because of the cursing (this fic is rated M for language only, and perhaps some violence—there will be no lemons. I repeat: NO LEMONS) or the insults against some of the characters. I'm just trying to make everybody three-dimensional here, which may or may not turn out to be a chore. Anyway, please rate and review. Critiques and flames are welcomed.

Ah, also, I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. I literally typed this out in an hour and I'm too impatient and lazy to send it off to a beta and wait for the finished product.


	2. Playing Dress Up

**A/N** Thank you all very much for the reviews! I have quite a few ideas for this story, so hopefully I can make all of them work into it and make this a pleasant read. And Dilidilzz86, yes, I do fully intend this to be a Marcus x Leah fic, although there will be side pairings, and there may be a few other Leah pairings in there, but it will eventually be a Marcus x Leah.

We entered the enormous garage, and Rosalie had the foresight to toss me her spare set of clothes. I returned to me human-shape and gratefully slid on the grease-stained jeans and too-tight white tee. It felt awkward without any undergarments, but it would have to do until I could get my things.

Rosalie had returned to whatever she had been working on before I came in—which turned out to be some kind of automobile. It looked like one of those futuristic cars you see in the movies, with the entire top of the car sliding forward in place of the doors and the refined look that only imported vehicles seemed to achieve. At the moment, however, the entire thing was gutted out, the paint and gloss-coat blasted off, and it was propped up on some sort of hydraulic lift because it lacked a few vital components—such as tires.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked smoothly and popped the hood of the car. I sidled over and leaned against the passenger side of the car, pretending to take an interest in what she was doing. The vampire seemed hard at work; though still the vision of beauty everyone perceived her as, she was wearing a pair of much-loved gray overalls and had streaks of oil on various parts of her anatomy. So, she wasn't exactly looking her best, but any idiot could tell that she looked more comfortable wearing dingy clothes and souping-up an engine than in the hottest trend on the Paris runway.

I watched her tighten a few bolts with various wrenches and pour God-and-Rosalie-only-know-what into some tanks, doing my best to look as interested as possible. She topped off a final tank with what appeared to be water, but knowing my experience with cars, it was probably some sort of arsenic poison, then stepped back with a large smile on her face. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, swiping away the non-existent sweat and adding another nice smear of oil to her growing collection.

"Those mutts kick you out or something?" she smirked and wiped the residual gunk off her hands with an already gunkified rag. I sighed and looked at my reflection in the side-mirror, using it to help me pick out the stray bits of leaf and twig that had stuck in my hair.

"Actually, I left. Though, I can't say that they'll miss me." She was teasing, of course, but that didn't do anything to keep the bitterness from my tone.

Rosalie looked me up and down with a small frown, as if seeing me for the first time. Then her lips split into a wide grin and she pulled me into a tight hug. My instincts kicked in, screaming at me to shirk away from the unwanted contact, but I bit them back and returned the embrace. Ever since... _him_, I had developed a dislike of being touched. Maybe because those same hands that had once held me so tenderly would only ever be used to slap or punch me.

Rosalie felt me shake as I swallowed hoarsely, and patted me reassuringly on the back.

"You staying with Charlie and Sue?" she asked as she stepped away, then scowled upon noticing she had inadvertently dirtied the clothes she loaned me. I shook my head and returned to leaning against the stripped car.

"They'll expect me to go there. I figured I'd lie low for a bit, maybe camp out few miles into your territory—if that's okay with you—then go back for my things when they think I've left."

"No. You'll stay in the house, with us." she nodded firmly, ignoring my protests as she grabbed my arm and led me to the door to the house. "Besides, I've already got a room prepared for you, in case something like this ever happened."

I let out a bark of laughter, unable to help it as she shoved the door open and dragged me into the kitchen. Even though her sister was the one with that bullshit-gift of predicting-the-future-but-it-might-not-happen-because-it-could-change, Rosalie was surprisingly good at making assumptions. That, and I suppose my continuous rants to her about how I was just waiting for an excuse to ditch those assholes.

Rosalie took me into the master bedroom and stood me near the never-slept-in bed while she retreated to the walk-in closet (which was, roughly, the size of my old house) to fetch me some new clothes. While she was busy sifting through her bras in an attempt to find a large enough size to fit me, I heard yelling coming from the living room. Unable to contain my curiosity, I slipped out of the room as quietly as I could and ventured into the surprisingly plain room.

Her husband, Emmett, had been the source of the yells. He was sitting on the back of one of the expensive cream-leather couches, his muddy sneakers pressed into the supple cushions. There was a game controller in his hands, which was hooked up to the gigantic projector that displayed some sort of fighting game on the huge white wall. His niece—oh shit, she was my niece now too—was sitting on an ottoman off to the right, hunched over as she manically jabbed her thumbs into the buttons. Their entire focus was on the game, so they didn't even flinch when I settled into one of the armchairs (after making sure the areas that would be touching it were free of stains) and watched them play.

"You're getting the shit beaten out of ya."

"Shut up. I got a plan."

"Oh yeah? That plan involve getting your ass kicked? Because if it does, it's workin' out pretty well."

"Gloat while you can, because in about five seconds, you're gonna be dead."

"Ooooh, who are you, Nostril-dumbass?"

"It's Nostradamus." I corrected with an eye roll, but couldn't help but smile a little. They started, just noticing for the first time, and the big vampire tore his attention away from the screen to give me a once over.

"Hey, Leels. Nice shirt." he wore a shit-eating grin to match the lecherous eyebrow-waggle he was giving me. Self consciously, I glanced down, naively thinking he had been commenting on the stains. Then I remembered how much larger I was than his wife (damn her and her eternally size-two body). And how I currently lacked a bra.

"Fuck you, Emmett." I growled and cross my arms over my breasts in a huff.

"Time and place, babe. I don't think Rose 'd mind if you joined in on the fun." He winked suggestively. I rolled my eyes again but felt my lips quirk into a small smile.

"Maybe you should be more concerned about the here and now." His face clouded over in confusion, but quickly changed to disbelief as he looked back at the screen. A Herculean man in a karate outfit was giving a victory pose as he stood over the forlorn body of his competitor, a scantily clad female. The dhampir had the decency not to rub her victory in his face, but that didn't make her look any less smug.

"Looks like you lost, Em." I stated the obvious in a bored drawl.

The vampire shot me a heated glare.

"I can see that," he muttered, then turned his attention to our smirking niece. "You only won because Leels and her headlights distracted me." he said stiffly. Emmett was obviously a sore loser.

"Aunt Leah has headlights? Like a car's?" her smug expression changed to one of interest as she leaned closer to me, in order to get a better look. Emmett quirked an eyebrow before a dark chuckle escaped him.

"Well, not exactly like a car's; maybe a bit bigger, and they're definitely the kind I wouldn't mind being blinded by—"

"Emmett!" Rosalie had come to get me, arriving just early enough to grasp the gist of what her husband was saying. She cuffed him roughly over the back of the head with her free hand, shoving him into a normal sitting position in the process. He rubbed the spot where she had hit him, grumbling under his breath.

"How can I get headlights?" Our niece asked the seemingly innocuous (to her) question, and I swore what little color Emmett had promptly vanished. Rosalie, in contrast, was giving off so much heat that I thought the contrasting temperatures in her body would make her rock-hard skin crack like concrete.

"Er, well, ya see..." he stumbled over the words, trying to think up a suitable explanation that wouldn't scar her innocence, and likewise, one that wouldn't make Rosalie scar him. I covered my mouth to keep from bursting out in laughter at the big vampire's distress, but after a few more moments of watching him flounder about for a suitable reply, I decided to rescue him.

"Ren, how about you help Aunt Rosie and I pick out some clothes for me." She had attended her first human school at the tender age of three (appearing about nine years old), and had been teased and bullied relentlessly because of her name by the other children in her fourth grade class. But she was a trooper and held out the full year, hiding the abuse from her parents, not that they noticed her much anyway. Renesmee never went back to a public school after that, but the experience had opened her eyes to the world; it wasn't the sunshine and unicorns-shitting-sparkles place that she had been brought up to believe it was. From that moment on, she had become 'Ren', and I was glad she chose something that wasn't stupid-as-fuck like her old name.

Of course, she was still 'Renesmee' whenever her parents paused in their Fuck Around the World tour and showed some interest in their daughter's welfare. But Rosalie didn't mind having the half-vampire live with her; she had unabashedly confided in me that she would have kidnapped the baby and moved to New Zealand, had the brain-glitch bitch not decided to give guardianship to her. Besides, Ren viewed Emmett and Rosalie as her parents more than her "biological unlife-givers".

The apparent-fifteen year old's attention quickly shifted back to me and she hopped up and bolted eagerly into her aunt and uncle's room. Rosalie sighed and gave Emmett a 'we'll-talk-about-this-later' look before following after her. I stood and followed as well, pausing in the doorway when I heard Emmett clear his throat.

"Thanks, Leels. I owe ya." he smiled gratefully, and I accepted it with the all the dignity and grace of a grand Lady.

"Damn right you do. I just saved you from castration; you owe me _big time_." I told him with a falsely pleasant smile, savoring the disgruntled horror on his face before reentering the spacious bedroom.

Ren immediately latched onto me and shoved me into the bathroom before I could even object. "Get undressed and shower," she ordered through the closed door. I hastily obeyed, stripping out of my lent clothes and tossing them into the silk bag that contained other dirty clothes (from what I could see, most of the fabric had large red blotches that I really hoped was cranberry juice or paint). I turned the faucet in the huge stone shower that took up the entire back wall, waiting the two seconds it took for the water to warm before stepping in.

The water was quickly polluted with the various dirt and debris that had clung to my skin and hair. My eyes closed of their own accord, and I smiled softly, letting the hot water relax the tension in my body. I waited a few minutes before picking up the shampoo bottle—which looked expensive—and squeezed out a few globs—which smelled expensive—to work into my hair. I let it set before rinsing it out and reaching for the conditioner, prepared to do the same thing with it.

And then it hit me.

_Oh, fuck, what did I just do?_ I I stared at my toes and watched the soapy water travel down the drain. _I just deserted my pack. My family. And I can't go back. Even if they didn't kill me, they'd never let me return to the pack. I'll never see any of them again. Damn... Dammit! Why am I so stupid?_

There was a tentative knock on the door. "Leah? You okay? Your breathing's erratic." I heard Rosalie's voice over the clamor of the water spray and quickly shut off the water. My body had been on autopilot while I had been thinking, and I guess it was good that I had washed out the conditioner and body soap.

"I'm fine, Rose. Just slipped on a bar of soap and caught myself." I called while grabbing a plush creme towel and drying off with it. As I stepped out of the shower, I noticed a set of lacy black lingerie laying on the pristine white marble vanity. Leave it to Rosalie to have only racy underwear. Actually, it was probably a pair Emmett chose for her, since she knew that black and a bloodless complexion did not go together. It would, however, make a fine compliment to my tanned skin.

Thinking about tedious things helped keep the weight of the matter from enveloping all at once, like it had in the shower. There were still lingering thoughts that made my fingers lock around the skimpy panties when I slipped them on, or sent a chill down my spine when I was trying to snap on the push-up bra.

The bathroom door was slammed open and in entered the two other females in the house. The blonde and brunette wore matching smiles, so much alike that it wasn't hard to imagine them as sisters or mother and daughter. Their pale arms were laden over with slinky tops, tight pants, skirts that were skinnier than most belts, and a ton of other accessories that I knew even the most renowned fashionista would kill to have.

"What's, uh... what is all this?" I tried smiling but it came out looking pained. Ren dumped her load on the matching marble ledge that surrounded the jacuzzi tub and guided me back to the vanity, where Rosalie had pulled a Naugahyde-covered stool out of hammer space and beckoned me to sit on it.

"What's going on?"

"We're giving you a makeover." Ren informed me solemnly while she sifted through the collection of clothing, picking out would-be outfits for Rosalie and I—but mostly Rosalie—to critique. I shifted uncomfortably as Rosalie began brushing my hair and humming softly under her breath. I felt like a show dog being primped before its class.

"To my knowledge, we were just picking out some shirts and a pair of jeans for me to wear until I could get my things. Don't I have a say in this?" I grumped and made a sour face at Rosalie via the large mirror in front of us. Rosalie simply tutted and shook her bead, then set upon a particularly large tangle with all the ferocity of a mother bear. I tried not to whimper, instead focusing on the conversation they were having and trying to keep up.

"What about this one? It's the cherry baby doll dress with black leggings and those white ballet flats."

"Switch them out for the off-white leggings, because the black will make the dress look too dark." Rosalie corrected our niece without looking up from the black expanse of my hair. I saw Ren nod at her and put the new outfit aside before returning to the pile.

"How about a lace cami, paint-splotched tank, and skinny jeans with the checkered flip flops?"

"Which cami top are you referring to? The purple would look good with her skin."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't match the tee, and the tee matches the pants and the sandals. I was thinking the black one or yellow, because it'd bring out the yellow splotches on the shirt.

"Good thinking, but better go with the black. Too much yellow would make her look washed out."

And so on and so forth. Needless to say, I didn't understand a word they said besides 'dress', 'jeans', and 'flip flops'. They continued this oh-so-intriguing banter for all of ten minutes, during which my hair had been brushed, dried, straightened, curled, then straightened again, before there was a knock on the door.

I didn't hear anyone approach, so naturally, I jumped and burned my ear tip on the edge of the straightener in Rosalie's hands. "Fuck! That shit hurt like a bitch!" I howled and clutched at my ear.

"Language!" Rosalie hissed and caught my eye in the mirror, jerking her head toward an amused Ren.

"Er, sorry. What I meant was 'Fuck! That _stuff_ hurt like a bitch.'" I grimaced, earning a quiet snerk from Ren. Rosalie didn't seem to hear, though, and was instead glowering at the door. Oh yeah. I'd almost forgotten why I had started.

"What do you want, Alice?" Rosalie growled as the petite vampire danced into the bathroom. The house was already dominated with the sickly-sweet scent, so it wasn't a wonder that I hadn't smelled her. Though to be honest, Rosalie and Emmett smelled more... 'human' than the others, while Renesmee might as well have been wearing too much perfume and I wouldn't have noticed the difference. I turned my head once I was sure Rosalie had put down the straightener and stared at her with a cocky smirk.

Her Michael Jackson-esque nose wrinkled in disgust as she regarded me.

"Rose, why do you have a dog in your room? I thought you hated them." she frowned disapprovingly at me, and I had to resist the urge to open up a Can O' Bitch™. Luckily, Rosalie handled the situation for me.

"There are many things you think about me, Alice, that aren't true." That was actually a lie. Rosalie was as vain and selfish as everyone thought she was, but what they forgot was her fierce sense of loyalty and tenacity. She wasn't all vapid bitch. Mostly.

"Regardless, that _thing_ will become a bad influence on Nessie if you allow it to linger. You know that saying: "_You feed a stray dog, and he stays with you whether you want it or not_."

I bit down on my lip and had to close my eyes and count to ten to keep from going wolf and tearing her pretty little neck. I couldn't help _but_ be offended; that knowing smile gave me reason to think that, though she couldn't see my kind in her already flawed visions, she had somehow gotten word of my recent defection.

"Rose, just look at how badly she's trembling. I don't think Bella and Edward would appreciate you keeping such a dangerous and temperamental creature this close to _their_ daughter." I could imagine the sneer on her face as she said this, and sure enough, when I calmed down enough to open my eyes, it was exactly how I pictured. She looked like Gollum.

"Alice," Rosalie started in that universal level tone—the one that was supposed to give the impression of age-old patience and understanding, but really told just how close to the edge she fucking was. "Alice, we're a coven of vampires that range from moderately controlled to frenzied at the scent of blood, and you're worried that Leah, a simple shifter, is a danger to our niece, who's half vampire herself? You think Leah could so much as twitch without us knowing, and with our range of abilities, you doubt we'd be able to subdue her before she even thinks about harming Ren...esmee? Do you think I'd be so careless as to let something even moderately dangerous near her? And if Edward and Bella wouldn't appreciate it, maybe they should have given more than a moment's consideration on leaving me with _their_ daughter before hopping on a plane to go screw in every continent."

"Wow, thanks for doing me some justice. Your flattery is overwhelming." Rosalie's lips twitched at my sarcasm, but she remained focused on her adoptive sister, who still had that pompous look on her face. Though I could see from the way she held herself that she had changed from an offensive posture to a defensive one.

"Why are you here anyway?" I asked, addressing her for the first time, "It's not like you and Rosalie are best-friends. Unless you had a vision about this," I gestured at the various beautifying products on the counter top and the piles of discarded clothing and outfits near Ren "got a hard-on, because we all know you have a creepy fetish for make-overs and designer clothes, and wanted to join in on the fun."

Her face twisted into a mask of disgust, and I leaned against the iron back of the chair, satisfied with the reaction I had gotten out of her. "I doubt even I could make you look decent, _dog_." she spat in her bell-like voice, which, believe me, was a massive undertaking to sound menacing, "Not that I would even want to try." she said as an after thought, though her eyes roved around the large bathroom, greedily searching for something she could both primp and torture me with.

"Why are you here, Alice?" Ren wondered aloud, unintentionally leaving off the honored 'Aunt' prefix that I knew the pixie coveted so. Hurt flickered across the small vampire's face as she looked at Ren, but she quickly offered the young girl a sad smile.

"Don't you like hanging out with me, Nessie? I thought I was your favorite aunt."

Ren stiffened at the use of her familiar nickname but looked honestly distressed as she looked from Alice, to Rosalie, to me, then back again. Alice was playing the pity card, and the fact that she felt no shame in doing so only made her more of a deceitful bitch in my eyes. The truth was, she wasn't _Ren's_ favorite—that title went to Rosalie, and Rosalie alone—but her _mother's_ favorite. Rosalie had been given custody of their daughter simply because of Jasper; since Ren was basically an enhanced human, she still had blood, which meant she was a temptation to the Confederate vampire, no matter her relations.

"I do, Alice." Again, she had left off 'Aunt', and it pleased Rosalie and I to no end to see the other vampire squirm. "But... Aunt Leah's right. You wouldn't come here unless you had a reason." And calling me 'Aunt Leah' was the icing on the cake. Alice sighed in defeat, all the confidence draining out of her as she slouched against the door jamb.

"Alice? What's wrong? What did you see?" Rosalie demanded, finally realizing why her sister had dropped by. It hadn't even crossed my mind that the reason behind her presence was a vision. I wanted to snigger, to make some snarky comment on how accurate her half-baked prophecies were, but the defeated look in her golden eyes put an end to any witty remarks I might have made.

She ran a hand through her short hair and grimaced, as if the news were too much for us mere mortals (figuratively speaking, of course) to bear. Leave it to the drama queen to make herself the center of attention, no matter the severity of the situation.

"I saw the sun shining favorably on the murky town... a meadow in full bloom... there was the whispering of a nearby river... birdsong and the smell of rain... then ominous clouds drifted across the azure sky, blotting out the reassuring warmth from above... billowing cloaks in the number of fortune, seeking to possess the light—"

"Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! Cut the theatrics and just spit it out already!" Alice scowled at my interruption and gave an insulted sniff before looking each and every one of us in the eyes.

"The Volturi are coming. And they're taking Rensmee."

**A/N** As you can tell, I don't like Alice—at all. Ahaha, well, I had a surprising amount of muse for this chapter, and it was supposed to be one of the shorter ones. Anyway... I hope it didn't seem stilted, and it hopefully it was as enjoyable as the rest of this fic will surely be XD. Again, I'm too impatient for this story to be Beta'ed, so if anyone gets the urge to look it over for mistakes, by all means, do so. And don't forget to review and tell me what you think as well.

Also, all my sentences in this author's note started with 'a'. Ain't that creepy?


	3. Marathon

"How many of them, Alice?" Rosalie inquired, her tone muted even against the dead silence in the bathroom. We all turned our gazes to the petite vampire, waiting for her answer.

"Seven. 'Number of fortune', remember?"

"Who's coming here? Do you recognize any of them?" Rosalie pressed, her tone growing more insistent and her usual swagger diminishing by the passing seconds. Alice rolled her eyes at Rosalie and scoffed.

"If I _did_ know what members were coming, don't you think I would have mentioned it?"

"Fuck, Alice, stop being such a bitch. That's my job." Alice's golden eyes snapped to me, her mouth twitching because she couldn't decide if she wanted to snarl at me or frown. I heard Rosalie mutter something that sounded suspiciously like '_watch your damn mouth_', and then scowled at me.

Ren stood up and moved over to the pixie-like vampire, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I'm sure Alice is doing the best she can, Aunt Leah. It's not like she can pick and choose what she sees," Ren murmured and the two shared a touching moment, complete with smiles and tearful eyes and all that shit.

I gave a very unladly-like snort and crossed my arms, still clearly not convinced. "Sounds like a bullshit power to me. What good is having precognition if you can't even see what's important?"

"You shut your damn mouth, Leah Clearwater. You've no right to criticize me," Alice snarled, standing now and looking every bit as intimidating as she could. Which, despite her height and general appearance, was pretty fucking scary. "Unlike you, I'm actually trying to be useful. And what do you go and do? Get kicked out of your pack. You loaf around like some parasite and insult me when I'm trying my damned hardest to help us survive."

I was on my own feet before I knew it and across the room, my hands clenched around her icy throat. Alice's eyes widened until I thought they'd pop out of her head. She didn't need her windpipe to breathe, but I'd sure as hell like to see her try and feed with her throat crumpled like tissue paper.

I grinned down at her and squeezed.

And then I was across the room, my head cracking painfully against the expensive Venetian tiles that decorated part of the wall. I cracked open my eyes, squinting through the thick, sticky blood that flowed down my face from a cut at the top of my head. _So much for a day of primping and pampering_.

"Jasper, no!" I heard Alice's sharp command over the soft ringing in my ears, and could just pick out the pale blond hair and furious golden eyes of her husband as he tried to get at me from behind Emmett. Someone was helping me up, and I craned my head down to give Ren an appreciative smirk and managed to ruffle her hair.

"Thanks, kiddo."

"You all right?" Rosalie asked nonchalantly as she leaned against the counter, busily filing at her nails. No matter that they hadn't grown in nearly a century.

"Yeah. The cut's already healed. Just a bit shocked, I think." She tossed me a creme towel and I hesitantly dabbed at my face, grimacing as each pat made the dark red stain grow bigger.

"Mongrel! If you touch my wife again, I'll rip you apart piece by piece and spit on your filthy corpse!" Alice's husband roared and thrashed in Emmett's arms, which only made the bulky vampire hold him that much tighter.

"Jasper, she's not worth it. She doesn't deserve to be killed by you." Alice brushed her hand across one of his blood-stained cheeks. The blond, still growling under his breath, gradually calmed, to the point where he settled for shooting daggers at me after Emmett released him. I smirked cockily back at him, now that I had recovered, trying to look satisfied despite the anger burning inside of me. It wasn't hard for me to add this as another reason for me to hate the pair that much more.

"You seem so confident in your boy-toy. Why not let Mr. Sensitive off his leash, and see who's gonna be doing the killing?"

"And if anyone needs a leash, it's you, mutt. You seem to have been born without the ability to sensor whatever flighty things come into your head, and you leave whomever you speak with extremely chagrined for having listened to your idiocies."

We stared at each other for a moment before I felt my skin start sprouting fur. He was crouched down, his legs spread and bracing him as he got ready to take the brunt of my attack once I fully changed. Fuck treaties. This asshole had another thing coming, if he thought he could get away with insulting me like that.

"As beneficial a fight between allies would be, can we please get to the matter at hand?" Rosalie set down the file with a resounding snap and looked calmly between myself and the offending party. "Besides, you're scaring Ren." she added quietly.

I glanced over at the girl standing forlornly in the corner, light pink trails of tears running down her cheeks. All my anger drained away at the pitiful sight, and as I looked back at the blond leech, I saw a similar resolution reach him as well. I took a deep breath, ignoring the vamps' sickening stench as I got my temper under control.

"Fine." Jasper stated coolly and stared down his pompous nose at me. I ignored him, instead beckoning for Ren to come near to me. She shuffled over, sniffing lightly and wiping at the blood-and-venom tears that still trickled down her face. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, a bit unnerved that she was nearly as tall as I was, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Everything's gonna be okay," I whispered and planted a light kiss on the top of her bronze hair, earning a halfhearted giggle from the girl. She handed me a pair of worn jeans while blushing a bit, and I only just remembered how close I was to being commando. I gratefully tugged them out of her hands and pulled them on, sucking in a bit as I buttoned them an looked around the room.

"So, when the hell do I finally get to kick some vampire ass?"

* * *

"No."

"But, Leah—"

"Not fucking happening."

"Le—"

"No! What the shit? How many times do I have to say it?"

Rosalie rubbed her palm against her forehead and rested her back against the wall behind the window seat she was currently occupying. I remained where I was, seated on her never-slept-in bed with my arms and legs stubbornly crossed. It was just she and I, left in the room; Alice was back in the main house, speaking with Dr. Acula and his wife, Emmett and Jasper were in the kitchen, mulling over different battle plans, and Ren had retreated to her room immediately after everyone split. I figured she was calling her parents or writing songs or Facebooking or whatever the hell teenagers do.

"Leah, you know I don't want this anymore than you do, but we need the wolves by our side when the Volturi get here." Rosalie explained painfully slow, as she had the other ten times she had said this.

"No. Not doing it."

"You're the only one who can contact them besides Ren, and she isn't exactly up to it at the moment, what with a family of vampires out to get her and all."

I stuck out my tongue. "Fuck treaties. Just call them or something. Either way, I ain't doing it."

Rosalie sighed and stared out the window at the setting sun, her eyes distant. "You know, you still need to get your stuff from your house. Charlie and Sue are taking a belated honeymoon to Cancun, compliments of Carlisle, to get them out of town. And none of us can cross the border to fetch your things. It'd be a shame if the pack, in a rage, threw all of your possessions into a bonfire and burned them, just as they did when we moved away a few years back." She shook her head slightly before resting her eyes on me, a small pout on her lips. "Yes, a terrible shame."

"Fuck." I reached behind me and grabbed a pillow, beaning her in the head with it. She caught it a second before it impacted and tossed it aside, unintentionally ripping the casing in half as she did so. Rosalie frowned as it rained snow-white feathers in her pristine bedroom.

"Fuck," I repeated and flopped back on her bed, staring up at the mirrors on the ceiling. It took me a moment to realize what they were for, but when I did, I quickly rolled off of the bed and tried patting my clothes smooth. They probably didn't wash the sheets, either. Rosalie was still looking at me with a doleful expression, made all the more real by the layer of feathers covering her carpet. "I hate it when someone else is right."

She grinned unexpectedly before tossing me a fanny-pack: made of black velvet and embroidered with gold thread. And I'd wager that the diamond imbedded in the platinum zipper was real too. Regardless of its worth, I still frowned as I clipped it loosely around my neck, like some crude necklace, then went over to the window and climbed into the evening twilight.

"Be back before dawn." she informed me gravely, and I nodded over my shoulder at her as I stripped and folded my borrowed clothing into the little pouch. I trotted off toward the forest, only stopping once to look back at the house I considered as my second home. Ren was staring at me from her bedroom window on the second story. I waved eagerly, waiting until she returned it with a small shake of her hand before I let the electricity building in my body overtake me, and dropped down on all fours.

The run back to La Push didn't seem to take as long as when I was running _away_ from it. Due to some form of convenient luck, none of the boys accosted me when I entered the reservation territory. Maybe my scent was still strong around here—it had only been a day—which meant my intrusion didn't alert them at all.

But, on the other hand, no one else seemed aware of me either. As I trotted down the narrow dirt roads winding through the reservation, I didn't catch so much as a glimpse of one of the other natives. All of the houses were dark and empty, blending in to the now entirely black sky. I wondered what might have been the cause of desertion for the small community of La Push. Maybe there was a tribal meeting tonight that I had forgotten about, or perhaps the residents were down at the beaches, enjoying the night and roasting poached game over huge bonfires.

Whatever the reason, I wasn't about to chance it by looking for my missing relations.

I shifted quickly the moment my old home came into sight and dressed in my borrowed clothes. I made my way to the front door and unlocked it with the key hidden beneath the glazed sea-turtle Seth had made during his fourth grade field trip to Seattle. The old hinges groaned loudly as the door swung open, and I tensed, waiting for someone or some_thing_ to bolt out of the surrounding darkness and tackle me. Once I realized I wasn't about to be crushed under a metric ton of matted fur and sharp teeth, I slipped inside the old building and quietly shut the door.

For some reason, I was surprised the interior still looked the same. The kitchen still had the same cracked linoleum, run-down refrigerator, leaky sink, and beaten cabinets that I remembered. The living room was just as tiny as I remembered, with the ripped couch pressed against one wall and the small black and white television set a few feet away from it, against the opposite wall. I trod carefully along the line where the living room's matted pink carpet met the kitchen floor, down the yard-long hall way that led to the small bathroom with my and Seth's room on either side.

Seth's bedroom door was open, and if the soft snores and occasional whimper were anything to go by, he was home. I bit my lip—to keep myself from calling out to him or from making too much noise, I didn't know—and carefully opened the door on my left and entered my cramped little cave.

It wouldn't take long for me to pack. I emptied the contents of my closet onto my bed spread (pink with sparkling unicorns, a gift from my parents on my eighth birthday), taking care to make as little noise as possible. Seth had never been a light sleeper, but with our heightened senses, it wasn't odd for one of us to wake up in the middle of the night because a mouse was scrabbling too loudly over the mulch surrounding the house.

I slid my mattress aside, revealing the loose floorboard I used as my hidey-hole. I dug out my valuables with practiced ease: the $5,000 that made up my combined life's savings and inheritance from my late father, the small album that contained the numerous photos of my family, pre-Cullens, and the few of Sam that I didn't bother scratching out his face, and my worn collection of the _Southern Vampire Mysteries_, a guilty pleasure of mine. And my vibrator.

I tied the corners of my comforter together, trying not to squirm when the unicorns twisted into grotesque shapes. I threw the bundle over my shoulder and squeezed back into the tight hallway.

Seth caught me before I could make my grand escape.

He stood in the now open doorway, his lanky figure outlined by the appearance of the moon. I could just make out the sleepy squint to his eyes and the faint tendrils of steam rising off of his body as his natural heat reacted with the cold night air.

"Lee Lee? What are you doing here?" his voice was thick and slow, the after-effects of waking up too quickly out of a deep sleep.

"Getting my shit." I answered gruffly.

"Oh," he mumbled and scratched at his short-cropped hair, as if trying to stimulate his brain into remembering something. I took this time to snag the last Tupperware container of Billy's fish-fry, then tried maneuvering myself out the door. Seth reached out and gripped my shoulder before I could leave. I cocked my head and looked up at him, fighting back the urge to rip his arm off. Outcast or no, I was still his big sister.

"I thought you... that you might've... y'know, changed your mind?" he sounded so hopeful that it made me feel guilty for the first time in a long while.

"Seth…" I murmured and pulled him into a tight hug before either of us knew it. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay here. You have no idea how hard it is to be here. It's… it's horrible. I feel like an outsider, no matter where I am, even in my own home. And after what happened, there's no way the pack would take me back." We broke away from each other, but Seth refused to meet my eyes. "And I don't want to come back."

My brother finally looked at me, and he stared at me for a good, long while. Finally, he stepped aside, the chilly night air drifting inside in a rush. He glowered sulkily at me as I slipped past him and stepped outside. I heard him come out behind me, and I let him stay while I put my makeshift knap-sack on the ground to retie the ends together.

"You have five minutes before I call the pack. You better start running now if you don't want them to catch you," he informed me gruffly while he picked blades of grass out with his toes.

I rolled my eyes. "Like they could ever catch me," I snerked and started shifting, but stopped myself midway when I remembered the other half of my mission. "On second thought, call them right now. I want to see their faces when they realize how shitty their guard is without me." And with that, I phased entirely into my second skin, grabbed my bundle in my teeth, and loped off toward the border.

I wasn't even out of La Push before I heard their heavy paws beating the ground behind me. They fell in around me, all bristling fur and snarls. If I could have flipped them off, I would have. Instead, I just bared my teeth in a wolfy-grin and bolted ahead. Even with all my shit weighing me down, I was still the fastest and smallest wolf.

I took one of my harder trails through the woods, the one I used when I wanted to build up my stamina. It's uphill almost the entire run, with a ton of blind curves and steep ledges, not to mention a shit ton of rocks and logs I pushed into the path to build up my muscle by jumping over. Only Seth knew about this trail, and I could hear him let out a strangled whine when he recognized it.

_Let the fucking game begin!_ I growled in my head, willing them to hear it before sprinting away and leaping cleanly over a massive fallen tree.

The others snarled in unison immediately after my little brother's thoughts went into their heads, and they drove on harder, intent on catching me before I got too far along the trail. But I danced out of the way of their snapping jaws, my feet kicking up loose dirt and gravel in their faces, causing them to howl in pain when it got in their eyes. There was no way any of them could run ahead of me to cut me off, and even though Seth was by far the most agile of the pack, he wouldn't be able to out-speed me. Their only hope was to keep up and hope to outlast me, which, from all my running on this trail, would happen about as soon as I swapped spit with a leech.

* * *

I paused at the top of the ridge that marked the end of my trail. My legs were shaking like hell and I could barely breathe, especially with the damn sack in my mouth. But, at last, I had made it. The obscene white house on a hill was maybe three miles away.

I readjusted my hold on the bed spread before trotting down the somewhat steep slope. The pack was a couple miles behind me, just close enough to keep my scent; guess all that roid raging muscle they had packed on them was just for show. But they had figured out by now that I was leading them somewhere, so I guess they weren't complete idiots.

My exhausted body changed into my natural shape when I reached the huge lawn at the front of the house. I had planned on making a quick trip to the small river running by the house, both for nourishment and hygiene, but the moment I changed from being on four sturdy paws to my hands and knees, I collapsed. My body was completely drenched in sweat, so much so that the ground beneath me became instantly wet. Slowly, I willed one of my hands up to my face and gently pulled my now dirtied and tattered bed spread from between my teeth. My jaw ached fiercely, and I yawned widely, wincing when I heard it pop a few times.

"Ugh, _gross_. I do _not_ want to smell your vile dog breath, Leah." I heard Rosalie's voice complain jovially from somewhere above me. I didn't have the energy to do much more than grunt at her, but thankfully, she understood what I meant from having spent so much time with Emmett, who rarely spoke in anything but grumbles and growls.

"Your stench better not stick to my clothes," she continued while picking me up easily with one hand and carrying my sack in the other. She started walking slowly toward the house, for my benefit, I guess, or maybe because she thought if she moved too fast, I'd vomit all over her.

"Is the pack on their way? You did tell them, didn't you?" she asked, attempting to sound casual, but even in my fatigued state, I could hear the anxiety in her voice. I nodded slightly against her back, the action taking all of my remaining strength. Rosalie 'hmed' under her breath, but refrained from making any further comments on my bedraggled state.

After an eternity, we finally entered the house. No one else was there, or rather, I didn't notice anyone, nor did I care at this point if anyone saw me slung over the beauty queen's back like a prize kill. Rosalie opened a door at the end of a short hall on the first floor and placed me gently into gigantic tub that was already drawn and full of warm, soothing water. I groaned gratefully and sank into its depths deep enough for the water to just lap at me nose whenever I breathed.

I hadn't noticed her leave, but I guess she did, because when I resurfaced about a half hour later, there was a huge chunk of raw beef leg set carefully on the marble edges of the tub. And suddenly, I realized how starving I was. My teeth tore into the hunk of meat, and I swallowed each chunk greedily, not caring that droplets of blood poured into the water from wear I bit, staining my bath red.

But it was just _so fucking good_. Granted, I was so ravenous I bet that if I had gnawed on the sterling silver water tap, it would have been absolutely delicious. But I'm glad I hadn't had to resort to that; the fixture wouldn't have been quite as filling, and what was more, I could feel my strength returning.

I chewed restlessly on the thick thigh bone, all that was left of my meal, while I drained the tub of the bloody water and then refilled it so I could scrub myself clean. My perception of time was all out of whack, but I would guess I was in the bathroom for about two hours or so before I finally felt clean and refreshed.

The nighttime gloom was just beginning to lighten into the morning gloom by the time I fished my clothes out of the fannypack Rose had given me and put them on. My legs were still trembling a bit, but I managed to get out of the bathroom with only placing a hand on the walls for balance. I shuffled slowly down the hall, back to the main part of the house, where I could hear labored breathing and smelled the strong musk of the La Push pack.

And, sure enough, when I arrived at the expansive living room, I saw my former pack mates draped over any available furniture, or else, in Quil and Embry's case, passed out on the lush white rug in the middle of the room. All of them were butt-fucking-naked and completely drained, because there was no way they would have allowed themselves to be displayed like this, _especially_ in a leech lair.

"Wish I had my camera…" I grumbled, surveying the scene with the practiced eye of someone who was experienced in black mail. Maybe if I threatened them with this, they wouldn't follow me.

"Aunt Rose already took some pictures. She said she'd give you copies," Ren called out. I started and looked around for her, finally finding her sitting beside Jake on the largest couch (his huge-ass self was blocking her from view).

"Good ol' Rose," I commented dryly and wandered over to her. She was wearing her night gown, which meant she had probably been woken up by all the commotion in the house. Not that she would be able to seep much anyway, what with those Italian pricks coming to get her.

"They looked bad when Grandfather, Uncle Jasper, Aunt Rose and Uncle Em carried them back," she said, staring at Jake's face with a worried expression while she ran her hand through his hair, petting him. "Worse than you did," she continued and tore her eyes away from Jake for a moment to give me an imploring look. "They'll wake up, won't they?"

"Pfft. I hope not," I replied before immediately regretting it because of the heartbroken look Ren was giving me. I sighed. "Yes, they'll wake up. It'll take a couple hours, a shit ton of food, and maybe a few dozen packs of Red Bull, but they'll be back to their asshole selves by the afternoon."

Ren smiled at me, reassured, before her eyes inevitably drifted back to Jake.

Specifically, to his groin.

"I've never seen a… a _pee pee_ before," she whispered in awe, a light blush on her face. I made a choking sound, not sure whether I should laugh at the terminology or cry because, well, '_pee pee_'? Really?

"But what are those… Those things hanging beneath it?" she asked shyly and gestured toward Jake's ball sack. This time, I did manage to keep my reaction in check.

"Those are, um… tumors. Really, really bad ones. You should probably cut them off, do him a favor," I informed her with a serious nod of my head. Ren's eyes widened before she did a double take around the room.

"All of them have them!" She cried, visibly horrified. I tried to mimic her reaction, but couldn't help grinning.

"Well shit! We better get busy!"

But before we could get to work, the fucking arrived. She was in front of us in an instant, shoving me aside so she could sit next to Ren. She hugged the dhampir tightly, not noticing that Ren wasn't returning her affections.

"Nessie, sweetie, you should really get back to bed. Nothing good will come from a lack of sleep," she told Ren in that disgustingly sweet voice of hers. The pixie pulled away from Ren, finally, noticed that the young girls eyes were still ogling Jake's junk, and quickly stood in front of her in an attempt to censor her view.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen. Bed. Now. No 'but's." She snarled, finally getting Ren's attention.

"But—"

"_No_. '_But's_."

I rolled my eyes and got to my feet, pulling Ren up with me. "As much as I hate to say it, Michael Jackson's right. You should try to get some sleep," I told her and began herding her toward the stairs. Alice, fuming, followed behind me.

"But, but, I'm not tired at all!" Ren protested weakly as she climbed the stairs, her strained voice and slouched posture betraying her weariness. "And I don't want to be alone—I mean, I can't leave Jake alone."

"We'll have a sleep over, then. Paint our nails and shit and tell ghost stories," I told her, knowing she'd be asleep before she even reached her bed. Ren grudgingly murmured her assent as I guided her into the usual room she slept in here. Sure enough, the moment she crawled under the covers, she was asleep. Alice wandered over to the bed and kissed our niece on the forehead.

"Pleasant dreams, Nessie," she murmured, almost too quiet to hear, before stalking towards me. "I'll kill you for exposing her to such vile things. She's way too young to be learning about the opposite sex!"

"Too young? She's five years old! She's practically a woman!" I hissed at her. We glared at one another for a long moment before Alice scoffed and turned away.

"Bitch," I snarled at her retreating back as she headed downstairs. I was about to follow suit, but heard Ren stir slightly and call out my name.

"Go back to sleep, Ren. We can talk after you get some rest," I told her, my voice cracking a bit as I yawned.

"I know," she muttered to her pillow. "Just… I can't… Please don't go away. Promise me you won't leave me."

I stared down at her, the soft light from the hall illuminating her front. Her eyes her half-opened and bloodshot, with those weird pink tears of her already dripping off her face and staining the pristine white bed set. I sighed before gently rolling her over and climbing into bed next to her. She cuddled up close to me, her body curled tightly and her face pressed into my chest. I draped an arm over her and hummed an old Quileute lullaby my mom used to sing me. By the time I finished, I was already half asleep, and Ren was completely passed out. I smiled softly before kissing the top of her head and closing my eyes.

"I promise."

* * *

"Edward and Bella are here."

We all glanced up at the matriarch of the family, Esme, as she stepped out of the doorway of the Cullen's huge ass mansion in the middle of Fucking Nowhere (it's near the outskirts of Forks, Washington, just a little past Ass End of America; if you hit Wrong Turn Dipshit, you've gone too far) revealing my oh-so adored stepsister and her literal ice-queen of a husband. Sitting in the white-on-white living room, surrounded by shimmering leeches was not my idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon, but hey, you give some, you lose some. And if putting up with them meant keeping my niece safe, then my weekend plans could wait.

Bella was crouched beside Ren in a moment, enveloping the girl in a bone-crushing hug.

"We left as soon as Carlisle called. Don't worry, Nessie; mommy and daddy are here now. We'll make sure no one hurts you." Bella crooned to her daughter and began stroking her hair, like you would a cat. Ren made a face—either due to the use of her horrid nickname or the fact that she was kind of almost being suffocated—and tried to break free from Bella's grip.

"Mom, please. I'm trying to No Scope a bunch of assholes from an enemy clan on MWII and you're so not helping." she grumbled while vainly trying to continue playing, despite having her view of the television blocked.

Bella hissed and let go of her as if she had been burned. "We don't use that kind of language, young lady. And Alice tells me you've been spending too much time playing video games and not enough time with the rest of your family. Turn off that game and be social." Despite her daughter's life being in impending danger, Bella never passed up the chance to criticize her.

Ren growled low in her throat but reluctantly set her controller down and wandered over to where the rest of the family was gathered in the kitchen. Bella watched her with an approving gaze before finally deigning me with a glance.

"I see you've wasted no time in corrupting my child with your vile language. You'd better pray that we can cleanse her of that filth before it becomes a habit," she informed me icily.

"Hello to you too, dear sister. I'm fine, thank you for asking. And I'm glad your trip went well—I'm surprised you found the time to break away from your 'fuck in every continent' vacation and come back to check on your neglected child." Bella's eyes narrowed into slits and a low growl resonated from her throat. "Also, did you bring me any souvenirs?"

"Bella? Leah? Could you come in here please?" Edward's voice called to us just before Bella was about to tackle me. He probably 'heard' what I was going to do to her, and the disapproving glare he shot me as we entered the large kitchen pretty much confirmed my guess.

_You're just jealous that I have the resolution to actually do what you've been wanting to do since you turned her_. Edward grimaced and turned away to start a conversation with Jasper.

_I'm not hearing a 'no'..._ I teased him a final time before sidling over to where Rosalie, Emmett, and Ren were seated at the huge breakfast nook that was never really used for breakfast.

"So, what's the game-plan? We wait for those dago vamps to get here, beat the shit out of 'em, then burn the evidence, right?"

"See, Rose! Leah had the same idea I did!" Emmett grinned at me and barely winced when his wife hit him over the head with a rolled up newspaper (with enough force to tear said paper clean in half).

"We're actually going to talk it out with them, like we did the last time they came." She rolled her eyes and jerked her head in the direction of the other Cullens, indicating this wasn't exactly her favorite idea either, "Carlisle says the Volturi have no reason to harm us."

"Whatever. What's that saying? 'Actions speak louder than words'? If they so much as look in the wrong direction, I'll be all over them."

"And I'm assuming you'll be 'all over them' in the bad way, right?" Emmett snickered and waggled his eyebrows.

"Would it kill you to quit being an ass for once? Your niece might be killed because the Volturi decided she shouldn't live anymore, and all you can think about is a fucking innuendo?" Rosalie snapped at him. Emmet bit his lip and shrugged.

"I'm just trying to keep the morale up, Rose. Laughing every once in a while won't kill you."

"Well, it might just kill _her_," she snarled back.

Ren seemed to lose it at this. Great, wracking sobs tore through her body, and venom-infused tears began to trickle down her cheeks, burning her skin as they made their way to the floor and began to smolder on the white marble. I kneeled beside her and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the sting of her tears when they splashed against my skin.

"Hey, don't worry, alright? I'll rip off their hands before they even think of touching you. And your Uncle Emmett may have majored in idiocy in Clown College, and your Aunt Rosalie may be a Class A bitch, but they care about you so much that they're arguing with each other because they can't stand the possibility of losing you." Ignoring the annoyed glances I was receiving from those two, I patted Ren's back, waiting until she finally stopped crying and backed away from me. Her eyes were blood-shot and there were two bright red lines leading from her eyes, where her tears had run down her face, but she was smiling.

"Thanks, Aunt Leah. You always know how to cheer me up."

"No problem, kiddo. Come on, let's go outside. Way too much testosterone in this room."

She nodded in agreement and grabbed my hand, practically dragging me outside so we could enjoy the lack of sunshine. The La Push pack was out on the front lawn, sparring with one another in preparation of an attack. They sure as hell hadn't been quite so ecstatic when informed of the situation at hand (as evidenced by the various ruined trees surrounding their training area, most of them casualties of Jake's fury), but the possibility of a battle always gets the blood pumping.

We sat in the lush grass and watched them for long, boring hour, though Ren seemed mesmerized by their intricate movements and strategic attacks. I was just glad that they weren't burning off their excess energy on _me_. I could outrun them any day, as I've already proven, but my strength was nowhere near their level. I'd be ripped to shreds before I could even wound them.

In fact, they were purposely ignoring me. Not that I was complaining. When they finished fighting and phased back, they didn't even spare me a passing glance when they passed us to go into the kitchen for a late lunch. Even Seth abjured me, purposely turning his head away when he walked by. That was the only thing that hurt.

Ren placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'm sure they'll get over it soon," she said, hoping to reassure me. I just shrugged off her hand and slowly got to my feet. Ren followed suit, her eyebrows creased in concern.

I sighed in defeat. "I don't care. They can be mad at me for the rest of their long, miserable lives and I wouldn't care. I'm not in their pack anymore; any ties we had with each other are gone now. I feel nothing for them." I informed her gruffly while brushing the stray grass blades off my ass.

Ren still didn't look convinced, even after I tried smiling at her. "Really, it's better off this way. I would have had to leave eventually, because, really, one poor, innocent woman surrounded by seventeen powerful, crude men? They wouldn't stand a chance. They may hit hard, but they can't hurt what they can't catch."

My niece's mood finally brightened, and she dragged me over to the long driveway at the front of the house with an extra bounce in her step.

"Well, if you're _really_ as amazing as you think you are, how about we have a little race? I bet I'm faster!" she sang and dropped into a starting position. I rolled my eyes but got down beside her, my heart already pounding in excitement. A good run would fix me right up.

"Whatever. But no super vampire speed."

"Fine. No shifting."

"Ugh. _Fine_."

"Ready?"

"Set."

But we never got the chance to 'go', because a long black Hummer limo with blackout windows was pulling up the drive.

**A/N**

Wow. Pretty much two years since my last update. Um, sorry about the wait… Life's been hell for a while, what with college and work. But it's here at last, and it's freaking long, so I hope that helps? I understand that a lot of you have probably written this fic off because of the lack of updates, but thank you for reading it, regardless! And as an especial thank you to returning readers and new ones, I'll let ya'll in on a little secret: when I said there would be no lemons in this fic, I was totally lying. ;)


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